Sylheti Nagari (Sylheti: ꠍꠤꠟꠐꠤ ꠘꠣꠉꠞꠤSilôṭi Nagri) is an endangered script used for writing Sylheti. It is closely related to Kaithi, and has some Eastern Nagari influences. Although it has in recent times lost much ground to Bengali, the script is beginning to be reintroduced.[1]

Etymology

The script has also been known as Jalalabad Nagari, Fūl (flower) Nagari,[2]Muslim Nagari, Muhammad Nagari. All of its names are suffixed with Nagari, which implies the script's connection to the Nāgarī script.

Origin

The specific origin of Sylheti Nagari is debated. The general hypothesis is the Muslims of Sylhet were the ones to invent it. Suniti Kumar Chatterji, however, is of the opinion that Shah Jalal brought the script with him when he arrived in the area in the thirteenth or fourteenth century. The bulk of text written in Sylheti Nagari being influenced by Sufism seems to support this hypothesis. On the other hand, according to Ahmad Hasan Dani it was the Afghans living in Sylhet during the Afghan rule who invented the script, since some of Sylheti Nagari's letters resemble the symbols on Afghan coins, and there were a large number of Afghans living in Sylhet at that time. Other less-supported hypotheses are:[3]

Since the people of Sylhet were familiar with the Devanagari script, they fashioned Sylheti Nagari after it;

The script was invented by immigrant Bhikkhus from neighboring countries such as Nepal;

The script could have been invented in the seventeenth—eighteenth century to facilitate the Muslim sepoys coming from the joint state of Bihar and immigrant Muslims;[4]

A folk belief is that a Muslim invented the script from Bengali writing system for the purpose of mass education[5]

But scholars now validate the three hypotheses: By the followers of Shah Jalal, by Afghans or that the script is indigenous to Sylhet.[3]

Sylheti symbols

Sylheti Nagari is characterized by its simplistic glyph, with fewer letters than Bengali. In addition, Sylheti Nagari didn't have any ligatures.[4] The total number of letters is 32; there are 5 vowels and 28 consonants.

Vowels

The widely accepted number of vowels is 5, although some texts show additional vowels. For example, the diphthong ôi has sometimes been regarded as an additional vowel. It is to be noted that the vowels don't follow the sequence of Bengali alphabet.

Spread

As noted before, Sylheti Nagari has been used outside of Sylhet. The script spread to such extents as Calcutta, and Shillong. It has been asserted from scholarly writings that the script was used in Bankura. But from various sources it has been seen that the script was in use in areas apart from the region of Sylhet such as Barisal, Chittagong, Noakhali etc.[3] From the description of Shreepadmanath Debsharma:

“

The script in prior times was used in Srihatta. With the advent of printing the script now has spread to all of the Srihatta district, Kachar, Tripura, Noakhali, Chittagong, Mymensingh and to Dhaka, that is, to the Muslims of the entire region of Bengal east of Padma.[6]

”

The script is thought to have spread to Chittagong and Barisal via river. Also a large number of immigrants in the United Kingdom from Sylhet have recently introduced the script there.[3]

Usage

Born out of a religious need, Sylheti Nagari has also been used in the daily lives of the inhabitants of Sylhet apart from using in religious literature. Letters, receipts, and even official records has been written using this script. Apart from renowned literary works such as Haltunnobi, Jongonama, Mhobbotnama, Noor Noshihot, Talib Huson etc., it has been used to write medicine and magical manuscripts, as well as Poems of the Second World War. The script, never having been a part of any formal education, reached the common people with seeming ease.[3]

Literature

The simplistic nature of the script inspired a lot of poets, and the bulk of Nagari literature was born. The then Srihatta's Islamia Press, Sarada Press and Calcutta's General Printing Press used to print in Sylheti Nagari. The manuscripts were of prosaic quality,[4] but poetry was also abundant.

Computer font

The "New Surma" is a proprietary font. Noto fonts provides an open source font for Sylheti Nagari.

Clause 1: All human free-manner-in equal dignity and right taken birth-take do. Their reason and intelligence exist; therefore everyone-indeed one another's towards brotherhood-ly attitude taken conduct do should.

Translation

Article 1: All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience. Therefore, they should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.